22.002 Prays fraxinella Copyright Martin Evans
22.002 Prays fraxinella dark form Copyright Martin Evans
22.002 Prays fraxinella dark form Copyright Martin Evans
22.002 Prays fraxinella dark form & Prays ruficeps Copyright Martin Evans
Distribution map Copyright Martin Evans
Life stages table Copyright Martin Evans 22.002 Prays fraxinella Copyright Martin Evans

Praydidae

22.002 Ash Bud Moth Prays fraxinella (Bjerkander, 1784)

Common

Similar species: Prays ruficeps is similar to the dark form.

Forewing: 6.5 to 8mm

Habitats: Deciduous woodland, hedgerows with trees, parks and wherever else that Ash is found.

Habits: The moth comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva makes a small mine on an Ash leaf that sometimes forms a blotch. It may leave the mine and start another. In early winter it bores the bark of a twig below a bud where it overwinters. In the spring it feeds in a spun shoot causing it to wilt. The summer brood is sometimes in galls of the mite Aceria fraxinivora amongst the Ash flowers.